The question of whether a feral cat counts as wildlife places the animal in a complex space between a fully domesticated pet and a truly wild species. Unlike native fauna that evolved without human influence, the feral cat is a product of domestication that has reverted to a survival state. This unique status creates a dilemma for policymakers, animal welfare organizations, and wildlife managers regarding their proper classification and management. Understanding the feral cat’s nature requires looking at its behavior, legal standing, and environmental effects.
Distinguishing Feral Cats from Stray and Domestic Cats
The primary difference between a domestic, a stray, and a feral cat is based on their level of socialization with humans, not their genetics. Domestic cats are fully socialized, relying on humans for food, shelter, and care, and they typically enjoy human companionship.
A stray cat is an animal that was once a domestic pet but has become lost or abandoned. Stray cats often retain some level of socialization and may approach people, meow, or allow limited interaction, particularly if they are seeking food. They can frequently be re-socialized and adopted back into a home environment.
Feral cats, conversely, are the offspring of stray or other feral cats and have lived their entire lives without human contact. These animals are unsocialized, exhibiting extreme fear and defensive behavior, such as hissing or fleeing, whenever a person is near. Feral cats are self-sufficient hunters and scavengers, typically living in colonies near a food source while actively avoiding human interaction.
Legal Classification Status
Feral cats are generally not classified as native wildlife under state or federal law in the United States. They belong to the species Felis catus, which is legally considered a domestic animal, regardless of its degree of socialization or independence. This classification means that unowned, free-roaming cats typically fall under the jurisdiction of local animal control ordinances rather than state or federal wildlife agencies.
The legal ambiguity stems from the fact that they are domestic but unowned, leading some jurisdictions to categorize them as “unowned domestic animals” or “community cats.” In certain contexts, especially where they pose a documented threat to native species, feral cats are instead designated as an “invasive species.” This regulatory status acknowledges their non-native origin and the ecological damage they cause.
This invasive species designation is separate from being classified as wildlife, which would afford them certain protections reserved for native fauna. For example, on public conservation lands, this status may permit management interventions otherwise prohibited for domestic animals. The legal classification ultimately dictates which government entity is primarily responsible for their care, population control, or removal.
Ecological Role and Environmental Impact
Despite their domestic legal status, feral cats function as non-native predators within the ecosystems they inhabit, making their ecological role similar to that of a wild carnivore. They are considered one of the world’s 100 worst invasive alien species due to the significant mortality they inflict on native fauna. In the United States alone, free-roaming cats are estimated to kill billions of birds and small mammals annually.
This predation pressure has been a contributing factor in the extinction of at least 63 species globally, particularly on vulnerable island ecosystems. Feral cats are highly effective hunters, and their presence can also lead to nest failure and behavioral changes in native wildlife, even when direct predation does not occur. The sheer population size of unowned cats amplifies this ecological toll.
Feral cat populations also act as reservoirs for zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted to wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. The most notable example is Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, for which cats are the primary host. A single infected cat can shed hundreds of millions of oocysts in its feces, which can persist in the soil and water for months, infecting a wide range of warm-blooded animals.
Current Management Strategies
The ambiguous status of feral cats has led to varied and often contentious management strategies across communities.
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)
The most widely implemented strategy is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), championed by many animal welfare organizations. TNR involves humanely trapping feral cats, sterilizing them to prevent reproduction, vaccinating them against diseases like rabies, and then returning them to their outdoor colony. Cats that undergo this process are often given an ear-tip to mark them as sterilized and vaccinated. Proponents of TNR aim to stabilize or gradually reduce the size of cat colonies over time through attrition. However, conservation and wildlife groups often oppose TNR because sterilized cats continue to prey on native wildlife and can still shed disease-causing parasites into the environment.
Removal and Adoption
In areas where feral cats threaten endangered species or occupy public conservation lands, more direct population control, such as humane removal, is often implemented. These programs typically involve trapping the cats and transferring them to shelters for potential socialization and adoption, or for euthanasia if they are unsocialized or ill. For stray cats that retain some socialization, rescue organizations focus on re-socializing and adopting them into indoor homes, which is the most effective way to permanently remove them from the free-roaming population.